Jason and Shanna Davis, of Delano, had taken to Facebook to ask for people's help tracking down their missing companion. At last, a call came in a couple nights ago. A man identified himself as "Kevin," and told the Davises he had Lou.

Since then, the man has taken the couple on an emotional roller coaster, from hopeful, to wary, to fearful. Whether "Kevin" actually has Lou in his possession -- or is named Kevin -- remains to be seen. What is well-established, by this point, is that he's pretty sick.

"I was actually gonna give your dog back," the caller told the couple, as reported by Fox 9, "but I'm a dick, and I'm not going to now."

In a subsequent call, it got worse. In a call recored by the Davises, Lou's rescuer-cum-kidnapper told them:

"I’ve decided to run your dog over so it’s a bag of organs. That’s it. That’s it. It’s gonna happen not just once. I’m reversing it over the motherfucker until the eyeballs pop out of the skull and then I’m gonna come back home and I’m gonna sleep like a baby."

Those calls all came in one night, after which the man broke off communication. In one call, "Kevin" had said he is currently on probation, and was concerned the couple might bring police with when attempting to reunite with Lou.

The Davises tried assuring him that would not be the case -- "our only motivation is to get our dog back," Jason Davis says -- but the caller grew increasingly paranoid.

The calls originated from the town of Cambridge, more than an hour's drive north of Delano; the man said he'd found Lou while visiting relatives.

On Friday morning, Jason Davis posted an update to Facebook, saying he'd received one more call on Thursday night. "Kevin" told Davis to quit calling him, according to the post, and "would not talk about Lou." Davis says he told the man he planned to hire a private detective, and also take out a $5,000 reward for anyone with information leading to the caller's arrest. "As I told him, I’m sure there are plenty of his friends, relatives, or acquaintances that could surely use $5k," Davis wrote.

Davis gave the man until 6:00 p.m. Friday to deliver them their dog. If he does, they will remove all Facebook posts about the situation, and promise not to press charges.

"This is his absolute last chance to walk away from this," Davis says.